Holiday Kitchen and Beyond
I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. I sure did. Turkey and all the trimmings. In our family, we always called it the Annual Carb Blow-Out. Boy, is it ever. Yummy, but deadly. But it’s a great prelude to The Holiday Kitchen.
After turkey day, I had lots of fun searching for just the right gifts for loved ones on my list. We were fortunate in Colorado to have gorgeous sunny-but-cold weather. Which gave all of us shoppers good reasons to take breaks for Gingerbread Lattes and Pumpkin Spiced Coffees. Oh, and did I mention the Peppermint Hot Chocolates? Oh, yeah. Makes the shopping even better.
By late Sunday afternoon, I was finished with the stores. Then I came home and did the “cyber shopping.” Every year, the cyber list gets longer. I was surprised how long that took. But, now, the shopping is all done. And now—now—I get to escape to the kitchen!Cooking and baking favorite holiday recipes.
It’s that dangerous time of year when I make all our family’s favorite holiday goodies. Well, not all of them. That would keep me in the kitchen until Valentine’s Day. But the Biggies. Mint Chocolate Fudge. Gingersnap Cookies. Chocolate Rum Balls. Cranberry Orange Nut Bread, Toffee. . . and on and on. We don’t want to even think about the calories. In fact, the holiday recipes are part of the presents that I send to my family every year.
Since all four of my daughters are scattered all around the globe, I love including those yummy treats in the boxes I ship with the presents to each one for the holidays. Somehow, those holiday treats capture not only favorite flavors and tastes of the season, but also–somehow–they capture some of the holiday memories as well.
Plus, I make extra to give to friends and neighbors as holiday gifts–and keep some on hand for hostess gifts. I’ve never seen a hostess turn up her nose at homemade Mint Chocolate Fudge.
Of course, I only have evenings to do all this baking/cooking. That’s because I have to keep days free for the “day job.” Writing. I met my goal of finishing the rough draft of this holiday mystery by Wednesday evening last week. Now, I’m back to work, revising the living daylights out of the manuscript. But tonight–tonight–it’s Chocolate Rum Balls.
What are some of your favorite homemade goodies that your family craves? Any family stories that go with them?
